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Colleen Hoover has broken her silence to voice support for Blake Lively after the actress accused her It Ends with Us costar and director Justin Baldoni of sexual harassment and launching a smear campaign against her.
“You have been nothing but honest, kind, supportive and patient since the day we met,” Hoover wrote in an Instagram Story, sharing a photo of her and Lively hugging. “Thank you for being exactly the human that you are. Never change. Never wilt.”
The comment comes days after Lively lodged a complaint against Baldoni with the California Civil Rights Department, alleging that he engaged in misconduct on the set of It Ends with Us.
Colleen Hoover/instagram
Lively also received online support from her sister, actress Robyn Lively, who shared a collage of screenshots summarizing the conflict between Blake and Baldoni. “FINALLY justice for my sister @BlakeLively,” Robyn captioned the post.
On Friday, the Gossip Girl alum submitted an 80-page complaint, reviewed by EW, claiming that “she has suffered from grief, fear, trauma and extreme anxiety” because of Baldoni’s alleged behavior. The complaint also names Baldoni’s Wayfarer Studios and producer Jamey Heath, among others, as defendants.
“Mr. Baldoni, Mr. Heath, and Wayfarer engaged in harassing conduct and failed their obligations to investigate complaints of workplace harassment, to prevent inappropriate and harassing behaviors on set, and to provide avenues for cast and crew members to safely raise concerns to neutral parties so that they could be investigated and appropriately addressed,” read Lively’s complaint.
The document claims that Baldoni “improvised physical intimacy that had not been rehearsed, choreographed, or discussed” with Lively without the use of an intimacy coordinator, with his alleged actions including unplanned kissing, caressing her neck with his mouth, and making comments about the way she smelled.
Eric Charbonneau/Getty
The complaint also alleges that Baldoni “pressured” Lively to “simulate full nudity” while filming a birth scene, and hired his close friend to play the doctor, which Lively found “invasive and humiliating” because “the actor’s face and hands were in close proximity to her nearly nude genitalia.”
Baldoni is additionally accused of making suggestive remarks about Lively’s outfit and body, sharing unwanted details about his sex life and asking Lively about her own, setting her up with a weight-loss specialist without her approval, claiming he communed with Lively’s dead father, and “invading her personal space when she was undressed and vulnerable” while breastfeeding her baby.
The document also details a meeting between Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds, Baldoni, Heath, and several other executives that saw all parties allegedly agree to a list of 30 terms that established clear boundaries and courses of action for the remainder of the shoot. The list included provisions that Baldoni would not make comments about his sex life, porn addiction, or Lively’s appearance and that an intimacy coordinator would be present to avoid further improvisation during intimate scenes.
Sony
Lively claims that Baldoni then employed a crisis public relations firm shortly before the film’s premiere to establish a “sophisticated, coordinated, and well-financed retaliation plan” in the event that allegations about the director’s on-set behavior became public.
In a statement to EW, Bryan Freedman, the attorney representing Baldoni and Wayfarer, said, “It is shameful that Ms. Lively and her representatives would make such serious and categorically false accusations against Mr. Baldoni, Wayfarer Studios, and its representatives as yet another desperate attempt to ‘fix’ her negative reputation, which was garnered from her own remarks and actions during the campaign for the film — interviews and press activities that were observed publicly, in real time and unedited, which allowed for the internet to generate their own views and opinions.”
The statement continued, “These claims are completely false, outrageous, and intentionally salacious, with an intent to publicly hurt and rehash a narrative in the media.”
In the wake of Lively’s complaint, Baldoni has been dropped by his talent agency, William Morris Endeavor, the New York Times reported.
It Ends With Us, the first of Hoover’s books to be adapted for the big screen, stars Lively as Lily, a woman who overcomes a traumatic childhood with an abusive father only to fall into an unhealthy relationship with Ryle, a charming neurosurgeon portrayed by Baldoni. Though the film’s release was plagued by rumors of a dispute between Lively and Baldoni, the August release was a box-office hit, grossing $350 million worldwide.
